The 1966 Myth: How the Camera Rental Receipt Destroys the Patterson-Gimlin Timeline
By Jason Brazeal
For decades, the Bigfoot community has pushed a specific narrative: that Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin were out in the woods in 1966, filming a docudrama, and that the famous 1967 footage was just a lucky, spontaneous encounter.
I think that narrative is complete BS.
When you actually look at the objective reality and follow the paper trail, a completely different story emerges—a story of a failed documentary, a desperate pivot, and a six-month window that proves the hoax was premeditated.
Here is what the evidence shows.
1. The Camera Rental: One Time, One Year
If Roger Patterson had been filming a docudrama in 1966, he would have needed a camera. But in 60 years of investigation, there is only one record of Patterson renting film equipment from Sheppard's Camera Shop in Yakima.
That rental happened on May 13, 1967.
If he had rented a camera prior to the 1967 arrest warrant debacle, the camera shop would have stated it. There would be a receipt. There would be a record. There isn't. The 1966 expedition, at least the filmed version, never happened.
2. The Six-Month Window
Patterson rented the camera in May 1967 and didn't return it until October—a full six months later. The shop eventually reported it overdue, which led to the grand larceny charge.
Why keep it for six months? Because he needed it. He needed time to scout locations, rehearse, and figure out the logistics of the hoax.
3. The Pivot: From Documentary to Hoax
I believe Patterson spent those early months trying to get funding for his Bigfoot documentary and wasn't having much luck. He wanted to get paid so he could live off of it.
Then, around July or August 1967, the idea for the hoax began brewing. That's when he called Philip Morris and ordered the gorilla suit.
Everything shifted. He wasn't just trying to get funded for a doc anymore; he was crafting the hoax, because he thought the footage would guarantee funding.
4. The Production
Between August and October 1967, Patterson, Gimlin, and a third cameraman (as proven by the full reel pan) were doing test runs. They were perfecting the suit, getting used to the camera, and shooting the horseback footage.
The 1966 book was the script. The 1967 timeline was the production.
The Conclusion
The rental warrant, the Morris receipt, the manufacturing date of the film, and the rehearsal footage all point to the same conclusion: It was all one six-month production in 1967. The "1966 docudrama" is a red herring.
The film was manufactured in 1966 and was likely shipped to its destination on the store shelf at the camera shop in Yakima where it likely sat for some time before being sold to Patterson in 1967. The rehearsal footage was not in 1966 it was sometime between August - October of 1967. Probably a few days or few weeks before the PG film hoax was shot. Not a year, a few weeks. Everything that they shot was all done between May-October of 1967.
They did a couple of trial runs, modified the suit (by taking some clippers and shaving down the Dynel on the back to give it more of a bear look). This shaved down suit, if shot at a distance and with a camera being deliberately shaken and kept out of focus intentionally would have worked for the illusion. It would not have worked if it were to be viewed in real life or with a clear lens up closer as seen in the Norma footage.
The reason for this is the underpadding of the Dynel would give it away up close, but at a distance and with the factors i stated it would not. This would also explain how I was able to point out the Dynel underpadding in a few shots when I did my FX forensic takedown of the hoax a few years ago. Pretty much everything I stated in my doc has been corroborated by Capturing Bigfoot. See, I told ya so. LOL
There is no mystery. It was a hoax, and they filmed it. And the receipts prove it.
The receipts don't lie. The 1966 narrative is dead. If you want more forensic breakdowns of the Bigfoot hoax, subscribe to the Space Monsters Fan Club or grab a copy of the magazine at Oblivion Trading Post.
